I Don't Know
by shadowswan
Summary: Written for TooBusyBeingAnAwkoTaco's contest. There are two sides in this war, but there can only be one winner. With the gang forced to choose, friendships have been broken, and new alliances have been made, as all of them just try to make it to the end of the day. AUish. Rated T for a reason - warnings inside. Also includes: Mara, Alfie, Joy, Fabian, Amber.
1. i

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places etc. related to House of Anubis._

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_A/N: Hello! This is my entry for TooBusyBeingAnAwkoTaco's contest. A huuuge thank you to her for organising this (I love contests) - there's still a bit of time for you to enter too! I've absolutely never written anything like this before, but the specified line kinda meant it had to be this kind of genre, so hopefully I've done an alright job. The general specification for this contest was to write a fic "that is filled with so many plot twists, so many unexpected weird turns, and tons of confusing-but-will-make-sense-at-the-end-of-the-story moments" - well, I very much hope that is the case after this chapter. And I promise, ALL of your questions will be answered in the next part (there are only two parts to this story). So feel free to speculate in the lovely reviews I know you'll leave, but I won't answer anything! (Unless I've just confused you. My bad.)_

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_A couple of **WARNINGS**: this is a little bit **violent** at times - there is nothing gruesome, but there are some **character deaths**. And when I say some, I mean many. Ha. So if this isn't your cup of tea, or if you shouldn't be reading it, please, **don't**. _

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i

"Ready?"

"Ready."

START.

Fabian runs blindly, heart pounding, not having a clue where he's going, but pushing forward anyway. Forward, forward, always forward. He wants to look behind him, but that will use up valuable time he cannot afford to lose. If someone is on his back, he'll just have to deal with them when the time comes.

It is unlikely anyone is trailing him just yet. He only just escaped from the building, the building that is still falling down around him. He doesn't think many others got out. He was one of the lucky ones, which was just plain backwards, because Fabian Rutter has never been one of the lucky ones in his whole life. Still, if ever there was a time for his luck to finally kick in, now was as good as it was going to get.

As he runs, he can still feel the rumbling beneath his feet, of rubble crashing to the ground, of the building caving in on itself, walls and doors and ceilings falling in to the ever widening pit in the centre, where the reception used to be.

"I don't know," Fabian sighs to himself, shaking his head at his friend, and what he'd said to him before Fabian set off.

Let's go to America, Eddie said. Let's go have fun in the good old US of A, Eddie said. Let's go visit the office building I'm interning in next year, Eddie said.

What Eddie didn't say, although in fairness, what Eddie probably didn't know, was that this stupid office building, this crazy high monstrosity made entirely of glass, was going to be under attack the day they wandered innocently into that foyer.

They were going to be under attack.

~.~.~

She coughs, a pathetic sound that does nothing but allow more dust to settle in her mouth. Patricia doesn't know where she is for a moment, doesn't really know what's going on, all she knows is that it's dark.

Then she turns to the side a little, becomes more aware of her surroundings. It is dark because she is buried underneath what used to be a building. She doesn't even remember what happened all that clearly, all she knows is that one minute she was gazing up at that spectacularly tall ceiling, and the next she was falling through the air as the ground she was stood on just fell away from her.

Patricia looks down at her arm and notices that a piece of glass has lodged in her skin and completely shredded it. It is a mess of wet and dried blood, covered in this grey dust that seems to be everywhere else too.

Gingerly trying to move herself, she is relieved to find that she can stand up in this little space she has found herself in. All around her are huge pieces of concrete and tiny, sparkling pieces of smashed glass, but she has managed to land in a small pocket amongst the mess.

Pulling off her shirt, leaving her arms exposed in a loose grey tank top, she rips a few strips up and starts to tie them round the cuts as best she can with one arm and her mouth. Once she's patched herself up to the best of her ability, Patricia looks around for some sort of escape route.

Patricia Williamson has never been the kind of girl to just wait around for a rescue, and she never will be.

Only one foot is placed on a solid looking piece of concrete though, before someone calls her name from behind. She recognises the voice instantly, and turns towards it. Just because she doesn't wait around, doesn't mean she's going to refuse help.

~.~.~

Mara and Alfie watch in shock and awe as the building topples to the ground quickly and violently. They are speechless for a moment, before turning to each other with wide, scared eyes.

"What just happened?" Alfie asks, and for the first time in her life, Mara Jaffray doesn't have an answer.

"I don't know," she says, and she's proud of how steady she keeps her voice.

Five minutes ago, she was telling Jerome that they were on their way, and that before he did whatever he was about to do, he had to wait. Only it is now apparent that he didn't wait. He didn't wait at all.

The area is strangely deserted, and Mara wonders if the news just hasn't filtered through yet. This is a tucked away little place after all, in a part of town where business died years ago and never restarted. Anyone at work was likely to have been in the building they are now watching crumble, is likely to be sat underneath that pile of building.

"Do you think anyone's survived?" Mara asks hesitantly, not knowing whether she should be filled with dread or hope.

"I don't know," Alfie replies, and his voice isn't steady at all.

They both know that the only reason Jerome would have done this, because he is the one behind it, there is no question there, was if he knew that all of their targets were in there. So maybe they're all gone, but does that mean the others are too?

"When did this get so complicated?" Mara sighs, and Alfie doesn't have an answer for that one either.

They both notice the movement to their left at the same time, both instantly recognising the panicked face of the man running towards them. Mara looks at Alfie, and nods. She can't do this. Not right now. She turns away, so she doesn't have to watch, just hears the groan of pain and the thud.

Alfie Lewis tucks his knife back into his pocket then takes Mara's hand and they begin walking towards the wreck, leaving Fabian's body behind them.

~.~.~

It's freezing up here. And knowing the end is coming, makes him want to jump. Makes him want to have control over his own finish. Everything else got so wildly out of control today, so he wants to plan this last detail.

~.~.~

"Didn't think you'd survived that one," Patricia comments, a hint of respect in her voice.

"Never underestimate me, Williamson," Jerome Clarke replies, a smirk on his face even as he wipes that same grey dust out of his eyes.

"How'd you do it?"

"I don't know," Jerome tells her truthfully.

"You must have had a plan," Patricia says, her eyebrow raised.

"The plan was to throw the bomb and run away as fast as possible. Plan worked," he adds, with a cocky nod of appreciation to himself.

"So now what?" Patricia asks, jaw set as she rests her hands on her hips, gun still tucked in her back pocket somehow, messy shirt ties round her arm still. Jerome thinks to himself that she looks pretty hot, but he's very much aware of that gun, so he keeps his mouth shut.

"Now we carry on. Round up the last of them. Finish them off."

"But-"

"No buts," he tells her. "Eddie knew what he was getting himself into. Knew the risks he was taking when he brought them here."

"He was my boyfriend though," Patricia protests.

"Was. And that is why you're the best person for the job. He trusts you, and he won't see it coming."

Patricia nods, knowing when shutting up is the best option to save her life. Patting her back pocket again, more out of habit than actual worry, she hops off the ledge they are standing on, once a first storey floor which no longer has an exterior wall, onto a helpful pile of debris, then sets off down the road to begin her hunt.

Jerome sighs to himself. He feels for her, but not too much. She's his best asset, sharp, clever, and deadly. He hopes she doesn't give herself over to her emotions.

~.~.~

They glare at each other, circling one another like wild animals ready for the kill. Only they have the same target, so somehow, they're going to have to ignore their instincts and work together.

"I didn't want this."

"Well neither did I."

"Glad we're on the same page."

They're stood on the road just outside the building they were in two seconds ago. They both followed Fabian out, just before the ground gave in, but a particularly violent collapse of rubble sent them all flying to the ground, and somewhere along the way they got separated.

All around them is silence, and it's a little unnerving to say the least.

"What do you think is our best bet?"

"I have no idea. Either we hide, or we try to find Fabian or Eddie. Preferably both."

"Which do you like the sound of more?"

"Neither."

"Well, neither isn't an option."

"Then let's hide. Let's set up some sort of base, and try and figure out what to do from there. I don't think we're safe just standing around here."

"Okay."

Nina Martin and Joy Mercer narrow their eyes at each other for a second, then take off in the direction of an abandoned looking parking lot. They've never worked together before, but now they're going to have to, because their own lives are at risk, and their friends' lives are at risk.

On both sides.

Nina glances over at Joy, who is still clutching the rifle Fabian shoved at her before they lost him, the one Eddie shoved at him before everything happened. It's slowing her down, but she's gripping onto it for dear life, because right now, it probably is what will save her life. Both their lives.

~.~.~

Mara manages to lock eyes with Jerome for just a second before it happens.

He's running towards her, the first smile on his face for a few hours now. He doesn't know if it's because she's a friendly face, and there's another friendly face behind her, or if it's just because it's her, but whatever it is, it makes him smile.

She smiles back, but then it falters.

He doesn't need to hear Alfie's anguished cry to know what has happened. Mara's face tells him everything. The way she frowns, as if she's confused, and then the way her hands briefly flutter to her stomach, still confused over the bright red stain spreading across her white shirt.

She falls forward, and Jerome races towards her. He catches her just in time, and slowly he lowers her to the ground. He wants them to have a chance to say their last words to each other, but he doesn't get this moment, because she's gone before he can even open his mouth.

Frantically he searches through his hazy memories of recent events to try and remember what he last said to her, and then he realises that he told her he loved her, and that somehow makes things better, even though nothing's better because Mara's lying dead in his arms.

"Fabian's gone," Alfie mutters, his jaw set now. "That's what we were coming to tell you."

Until this moment, he hasn't been sure of what his role was in this. Hasn't been sure of whether he really wanted to play this game. But now he is sure he is, because he just watched his friend fall to the ground right in front of him, and he wants revenge.

"One for one then," Jerome says darkly. He vows in that moment that their little team won't lose another. "Patricia's gone after him."

"Good."

"We need to find the others. Take them out too. Any ideas?"

Alfie turns around, a bitter look twisting his features, his gaze piercing the spot where that bullet had just come from.

"A few."

~.~.~

His luck just ran out. Forward, forward, always forward. It should have been backward, backward, just keep going backward. The bigger threat was always in front. The last thing he sees is a familiar face, last thing he feels is betrayal, then everything goes blank.

~.~.~

She sees him as she's circling the building. She knows he didn't get very far. She's fairly certain that he didn't even leave the building, thinks he might have escaped to another part of the building, because of course he knows it like the back of his hand. Might have been nice of him to fill his friends in on that, but that's just her opinion.

She isn't his friend anymore. It is irrelevant.

He is that sort of person. He must have known Jerome was coming after him. Probably didn't anticipate it being today, but that is why Jerome will always be a better leader than he is. When it came to pick sides, Patricia chose wisely. She suspects he tried to get away to a different part of the building, less affected by the blast.

So when she sees Eddie teetering at the very top of the building, she isn't that surprised.

He looks like he might be about to jump, and she considers waiting, because if he deprives her of this, she'll kill him. Deep down though, she still knows this boy, and he won't do this to himself. Just because he's alone, doesn't mean the rest of his team aren't still out there, and she doesn't think he'll abandon them if he can help it.

He always was too good for his own good.

Patricia waits a few more moments, then determines that Eddie isn't going anywhere, so she'll have to go to him. She knows her way through the building fairly well, scampering back inside, scaling walls with little difficulty, racing up the stairs and barely losing her breath. She's always been good at this.

She'll creep up on him, the element of surprise always a good tactic. She hasn't yet decided if she'll make it quick and painless, or at least as painless as possible, or if she'll draw it out. She'll probably decide once she's up there.

What Patricia hasn't realised is that Eddie's seen her. He's been watching her watching him for quite some time now. But he won't go anywhere. He'll do this for her, this last thing.

~.~.~

Joy's nearly crying in the corner, and Nina's trying really hard not to yell at her, but it's really testing her patience.

"I killed her," she keeps repeating, and eventually Nina goes over, pulls her up and looks her dead in the eye.

"Yes. You did. And now you have to get over it."

Nina's voice startles Joy, and she blinks.

"I meant to hit Alfie."

"And that would've made it any better?"

"I guess not," Joy nods, knowing Nina is right.

"No one knew what today was going to bring, but this is happening right now, and you're my only ally, I'm your only ally, and we both need to stay focused. Eddie gave us instructions, and we're following them whether you like it or not. So are you going to work with me? Or am I going to have to leave you behind?"

Joy pulls herself together quickly, is annoyed at herself for this lapse in concentration. Nina is right, of course she is, and at the end of the day, if this is a dog eat dog world, Joy wants to come out on top too.

"I'm good."

"Good."

Nina wanders back over to where the rifle is still resting on the low wall. The parking lot had turned out to be a better hiding spot than they'd ever imagined. Once they were up a safe amount, they'd gone to the edge, to try and look for Eddie, but instead they'd found Alfie and Mara making their way back to the building.

Nina hadn't hesitated in telling Joy what to do, and Joy hadn't hesitated in doing it. Of course, she'd then crumbled, which meant they'd lost Alfie, but at least one is down. That makes it one for one. Nina doesn't dare tell Joy, but she's glanced the other way too, and she's noticed Fabian on the ground, lifeless. It makes her heart hurt, but she knows he wouldn't want them to risk their safety for him.

"I'm going to call Eddie, see if he'll pick up, see if he knows what to do next," Joy says bravely, and Nina appreciates that she's trying to do this.

Nina watches as Eddie picks up the phone, only a few metres above them now they were up here, but on the opposite side of the road. She hasn't told Joy that she's spotted Eddie either.

"Help us," she hears Joy say in a wobbly voice behind her, and she already knows what Eddie's answer will be. "What do we do next?"

"I don't know," is his answer, and Nina doesn't turn to Joy's squeak. Instead she watches as Eddie throws his phone off the top of that building, and it is in that moment that she knows they have lost him.

But it doesn't matter. Because Eddie didn't give her those instructions today. In fact, he never gave her any instructions. He told her everything a few weeks ago, and since then, Nina's been doing everything on her own.

~.~.~

Eddie Miller senses Patricia's presence before she makes any sort of sound.

He turns to her, knowing what is coming, but wishing that it didn't have to be her.

"You don't have to do this," he tells her, stepping closer.

She pauses for a moment, her hair flowing to one side in the breeze, hand on her hip, the other pressing the tip of her gun to his chest.

"But I'm going to," she tells him, and she means every word of that, he can hear it.

"I know you are," he says with a sigh, as she moves the gun from his chest to his face, unflinchingly.

Well two can play at that game.

He stares down the barrel of the gun with a steady, unmoving gaze. He doesn't flinch. He doesn't dare blink. He has to keep reminding himself to breathe.

Of all the risks he was facing when he chose this career, of all the ways it could have ended, it was going to be at the hands of this girl. And the worst part is, he isn't nervous for himself. He's scared for her. Scared she won't survive even if she does this.

"I'll get revenge on him though, I promise you that."

He doesn't doubt it.

"Give 'em hell."

"I'm sorry," Patricia whispers, and he doesn't even know if she means it.

His final moments, and the girl he's loved from the moment he set on eyes on her, she's holding her gun to his forehead, the cold digging into his skin, and he can't even tell if she feels even the slightest hint of remorse. He wonders whether she ever loved him at all, but he has to convince himself otherwise.

Of course she loved him. Today's events have just changed everyone. All the events before this changed everyone. She needs to survive, and apparently she can do that without him.

"Are you?" he asks, needing to hear the answer.

"I don't know."

Then she pulls the trigger.

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_A/N: Told ya so. Please leave me a little bit of love in the form of a review, and keep the keyboard smashing to a minimum, if at all possible. Thank you for reading!  
_


	2. ii

_A/N: All the questions last chapter. All the answers this chapter._

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ii

She hesitates for a second.

Only a split second, far too short a time for even Eddie to notice, and he's the one with the tip of a gun pressed to his forehead.

Even though she knows everything this man has done, to her team, to her friends, she loved him once upon a time, and the idea of killing him isn't one she's entirely comfortable with.

This is her job though, this is what she was hired to do, and this is what she will do. She knows that her last words to him break his heart, but she figures surely that's better than the alternative. False hope has always seemed, to her, the cruellest of any lies. False hope should not be given out, because hope should not exist.

She hoped that she'd never get dragged into this. She hoped that she'd never have to leave him. They all hoped that everything would resolve itself, and they would not have to enter war against each other, against their own friends.

But that's life, life as she knows it, and her hopes were false, so she isn't inflicting that on anyone else.

As she pulls the trigger, she feels sick.

She does this all the time, every day, it's why Jerome wanted her on his side in the first place. Go in, get the job done, get out. Only when it's Eddie, it's all different.

He closes his eyes, and she does too, so she doesn't have to watch it happen. The pressure against her gun releases, and she opens her eyes again to watch him fall backwards off the roof, fall that long way down. She doesn't continue watching. Eddie falling almost peacefully through the air should be the last way she remembers him.

Once he's disappeared, she cracks.

Patricia falls to the floor, and howls, an unearthly sound that echoes around this empty, miserable place.

Then she picks herself up, grabs her gun, grits her teeth, and sets off.

~.~.~

Alfie has a target.

Never in his life has he felt more determined to exact revenge.

Mara falling to the floor in front of him, killed by a bullet that was almost definitely meant for him or Jerome, that image will haunt him for the rest of his days. He doesn't know who did this, or why, but he has a good idea of who they might work for. Mara was an innocent girl. She was the intelligent one, their source of information, not a killer.

She'd saved him more times than he cared to count, and the one time she is in danger, he couldn't save her.

The world isn't fair, but he's determined to put that right.

He's pretty sure that whoever did this is somewhere in that parking lot, because he only scouted it out himself a few hours ago, when Jerome told them they needed somewhere with a good view if it all went wrong. Well it did have a good view, and if he remembered correctly, it looked out on to this exact scene.

Someone was up there, and they had no idea what was about to hit them.

He wishes, occasionally, that he'd never gotten involved in all of this. That he didn't have to spend his days avoiding governments, living a life of total secrecy, both completely reliant on just a few people, and wholly on his own.

But Jerome was his best friend when he wanted Alfie's help originally, and Jerome is still his best friend, and he'll do anything for him.

This isn't for Jerome though. This is all Alfie. Because Mara was his friend, and he's seeing red.

~.~.~

As he falls, so does a single tear down her cheek.

Eddie has been her rock for so long now. Ever since they first stumbled into each other on the fourth floor of the building she's now staring at a wreckage of. They both demanded to know what the other was doing there, then both informed one another there was no way they could divulge that information.

It had clicked.

And how they'd ended up there together, she still doesn't know. Fate has a funny way of doing things sometimes.

And suddenly Eddie was her closest friend in the world. Closer than she was to Fabian, even.

Thinking of Fabian is the reason behind the second tear.

When they got assigned to the same task, it was as if it was meant to be. Finally, they could tell each other everything, because they were supposed to. Except it had unravelled as quickly as it had come together, because their enemy was no enemy. At least, not back then.

She'd pleaded with Eddie not to invite Fabian today. He'd said it would be fine. He'd just show them around, allow himself a little cockiness over how awesome this place was to work, then they could go grab lunch.

Of course Fabian had invited Joy though, because they're dating, because Nina loved Fabian enough to let him go, to try but ultimately fail to keep him out of danger. Eddie was lucky that his loved one was in the same business seemingly. Only she doesn't know who ended up being the lucky one, because Nina got to stay in contact with Fabian, but Eddie and Patricia were torn apart.

And now Patricia's killed Eddie, and Nina's watching, and she can still see Fabian from the corner of her eye, and her heart is still breaking.

She watches Eddie fall, watches Patricia collapse on that roof, then steel herself.

As he falls, she notices how there is a kind of tragic beauty to it. A fitting end. And then she realises that she is now alone.

She whispers to herself, asks herself what she's going to do now, and her response to her own question is a whisper too.

"I don't know."

~.~.~

He's freefalling, and the last thing he feels is regret. That he ever brought his best friend here. That he didn't drop everything to spend his life with the girl he loves. That he's abandoning his partner without any help, without any direction. That it ended like this.

~.~.~

A spy.

It had sounded so cool when he was younger.

Being one of the good guys, fighting the bad guys.

Not as cool though, when the bad guys were who you thought were the good guys too. And they're working for the US, and he's loyal to Britain, and somehow, this is going to have to end. In bloodshed, he'd predicted. And today, his predictions were proved right

He thinks they have the advantage though.

This is one of the things Jerome hates about himself nowadays. His best friend has just run away to take more opponents out, his best team member has just gone to do the hardest thing she'll probably ever do, and he's still holding Mara, afraid to let go, ever, and still he's only thinking about tactics.

As he watches Alfie leave though, Jerome knows this mission needs to end today, and he cannot let his friend go into this alone. Strength in numbers, always. He looks down at Mara again, only her face, and he kids himself for a while that she's just asleep. That she's peacefully asleep, and she'll wake up again soon, and the world will be right again.

Only that isn't happening, so slowly he lifts her from his lap, and lies her down, bundling up his jacket for her head as if she needs a pillow of some sort. He knows that helping Alfie finish this is the only way he can give Mara what she deserves. Make sure she doesn't die in vain.

"Alfie!" he yells, as he kisses Mara on the forehead one last time then takes off after his friend.

Alfie pauses, and looks behind. The expression on his face is not one of surprise.

Jerome catches up to him, and then they set off together to whatever is awaiting them in that parking lot.

~.~.~

"Did Fabian give you anything else?" Nina yells at Joy, charging up the stairs with the other girl close behind. "Anything at all?"

"I don't know!" Joy screams for the third time, and Nina gives up.

It isn't looking good for them. Joy has finally started to catch on to what is going on, and Nina feels horrible for still not being able to tell her everything. This is a classified op though, and if Joy survives this, her life might be in more danger for knowing.

The hysterical Joy from a few moments ago though, she's gone.

Instead, Nina's found herself with a feisty woman who's ready to do just about anything to save herself and Nina at this point. And it's definitely a good thing. Especially when they see Alfie and Jerome emerge from the rubble and begin heading directly for them.

Nina feels sick, and Joy feels sick, and all they can hear are their own heartbeats and the sound of their feet on the stone steps up to the roof. They figure that this will lead them to another escape route maybe, or maybe not, but they're out of options. They can't go back down, because that is certain death.

So they're going up, and they're praying.

Only the men have followed, and they're faster, and they catch up to them as the stairs level out onto that huge roof, that huge roof with nothing to hide behind, just empty space. Nina's heart sinks as she realises that there is no escape route after all. This is it.

And Jerome's laughing at them, an arrogant smile on his face that makes Nina's blood boil. This is the man she's been chasing and avoiding in equal parts for a year now, the man who killed her partner, and who killed the greatest man Nina will ever meet. Not directly, but Nina knows it is all his doing. One click of his fingers, and it's done. That's how he does things.

Alfie isn't laughing though, he is furious. And that almost makes him scarier.

For a moment, they watch each other, two on one side, two on the other, and then Nina lunges for Alfie and Jerome stalks towards Joy.

Nina has no weapons, but she gives it everything she's got anyway. Her and Alfie wrestle for what feels like a lifetime, meaning he has no weapons either, and she's pleased in a twisted way that they're on a level playing field. A few moments in and she's bleeding and aching, but she refuses to give in. She needs to deal with Alfie so she can go and help Joy, who is unknowingly up against one of the most powerful men Nina has ever come across.

They're inching ever closer to the edge of the roof, and Nina seems to get the idea at the same time Alfie does. He makes his move first, trying to throw her over, but she clings on to him, unbalancing him. Trying to use this to her own advantage, she goes for the same move, but he's smarter than that, as she should've known.

Glancing back at Joy, Nina hopes that she has what it takes. And that she's grateful for the second sacrifice Nina will make in this lifetime for her.

With that Nina throws herself off that roof, mirroring Eddie's fall, and dragging Alfie down with her.

~.~.~

Joy does not have what it takes.

And Jerome knows this.

She tries to put a brave face on as he walks towards her, but her knees shake when she watches Nina disappear over the side of the building.

Joy does not want to appear weak, but she's just lost her ally, and now she's feeling alone. Too alone. Alone, and with nothing to defend herself with.

"Don't come any closer," she warns Jerome, her voice shaking.

"And why is that?" he smirks.

"I don't mean you any harm," she explains. "I don't even know what I'm doing here. I just want to leave. I just want to find Fabian, and then-"

"Fabian's dead," Jerome informs her coldly, enjoying the way her face pales and how she is beginning to crumble.

"No," Joy whispers, barely even able to feel, she is so overwhelmed.

"Yes," he snarls. "And I know how that feels."

"Mara," she breathes, her eyes closing.

"Was it you?" he asks, taking a step closer. "I thought it might have been Nina, but there's guilt all over your face, so I'm starting to re-evaluate."

Jerome stands there for a while, arms folded, watching as Joy shivers in front of him, the freezing wind up here hitting them with full force for a second. He is right, he can see it in the way she is standing, the way she's hanging her head, the way her arms are wrapped around herself so tightly, like she's afraid of falling apart.

"Nina made me," she tells him eventually, trying not to let the threatening tears fall. "She was busy, so she showed me what to do, and she told me it was to save us, and to save Fabian. It was meant to be Alfie though."

"Well it wasn't," Jerome reminds her.

"I'm so sorry," she cries, shaking her head. "I never wanted to come here, I never wanted any of this, I'm so sorry."

"I'm not," he tells her, as he pulls out the gun from behind his back and fires once.

~.~.~

They stand alone in the road.

He's grinning triumphantly. It is over. They have lost their own, but they are still standing. The others are not.

She's grinning triumphantly too. Because she just watched him throw his gun to the ground in victory, and she knows he has no idea what is coming his way.

Because she's loyal to her team, until they are done. And then she is loyal to herself, and to her heart.

And two seconds later, he is dead.

GAME OVER.

_Pixie666 wins!_

Patricia grinned smugly and looked round at the rest of Anubis House, all gathered on the sofas in the front room. Most of the boys were glaring at her, save Eddie who looked like he wanted to take her back to his bedroom this very instant, while the girls had various looks of admiration across their faces.

All the girls, except Amber, who was filing her nails and looking distinctly bored. In fairness, they'd been playing Alfie's new video game for over an hour now, and no one had spoken a word, all completely engrossed in it.

"That was amazing," Eddie began, the first to speak as they began to break out of their trances.

"Seriously, so so good," Alfie laughed, nodding at his new console appreciatively.

"I've never played anything like that before," Jerome added. "The level of character detail was insane, all of the backstories, and the relationships."

"And the graphics," Patricia said dreamily. "Don't forget the graphics."

"They were beautiful," Mara nodded, earning a surprised look from everyone. "Hey! I can be a nerd when I want to be!"

"Mara, you're already a nerd," Jerome pointed out, which everyone laughed at. "You just got a tiny bit cooler."

"Well, whatever," she sighed. "The graphics were great."

"Map was awesome," Eddie continued. "So many levels!"

"So many levels!" Alfie yelled in excitement.

"Did you guys like it?" Mara asked the still silent Joy, Nina and Fabian.

"Maybe?" Joy offered, still looking a little shellshocked. "It's not really my thing. All the guns, and fighting and whatnot."

"You did squeak a lot," Nina pointed out, which set everyone off laughing again, even Amber.

"Fa-" Mara began, but was cut short by a death glare from him. "Okay then."

"Video games, they're just not my thing," he grumbled.

"I can't believe you died before Joy," Jerome laughed, wiping false tears from his eyes.

"Hey!" Joy cried indignantly. "I lasted until almost the very end!"

"So true, so true."

"Hey, Fabian, maybe me and the other guys will have to teach you a thing or two about games sometime," Eddie chuckled. "You know, without Patricia. Or Mara, or Nina, or Joy. To be honest, I think even Amber could take you at this point."

"I feel like that might not be a compliment," Amber sighed.

"Patricia, how are you so good?" Alfie asked, turning to her with an awed face.

"This is kind of my thing," she smiled, pleased with herself. "I just never thought to bring my own console from home. Good shout, Alfie."

"I couldn't wait to try out this game," he grinned. "And it was so good."

"I think my favourite part was the horrendous script," Nina giggled.

"The only letdown," Jerome agreed.

"Give 'em hell," Eddie growled at Patricia dramatically, which set them all off again, although Patricia's stomach did do a small somersault.

Eventually the room descended into chatter about the game, no one able to wait for others to finish speaking anymore. There was so much to discuss, so many features of the game to analyse, and of course, so much mocking of Fabian to get started on. Heavy rain was falling outside the house, but their living room was a cosy haven, teenagers screaming about wanting to be spies, and pulling each other off buildings, and shooting and stabbing each other with no warning.

Alfie was the first to brave the suggestion.

"Another game?"

It was met with a hearty cheer.

"Only Patricia can't play this time," Eddie said, so she promptly whacked him around the head. "Sorry, babe, but you killed me."

She shrugged. He had a point.

"Amber can play," Jerome suggested.

"These horrifically violent games are definitely not my thing," Amber stated, pulling a face.

"Come on, please?" Mara said with a bright smile. "It'll be fun! And we'll start a new map, so everyone will be level."

"I can't believe you don't like video games," said Patricia with disdain.

"And I can't believe your username is Pixie666," Amber retorted quickly, earning herself a round of applause and even more laughter from her housemates.

"I was twelve when I made it," Patricia grumbled, rolling her eyes and sinking further into the sofa next to Eddie. He put his arm around her and patted her shoulder, in the most condescending way possible. Patricia hit him round the head again.

"Whatever," Amber snorted. "Come on then, hand over the remote. I'll give it a go."

"Alrighty!" Alfie celebrated, heading back to the game's menu and selecting a new area to play in. "Okay, your team members are on this screen, and your targets are on that one. Remember, the aim of the game is just to kill."

"Oh, really, Alfie, I hadn't gathered that," Amber said dryly.

"So where do we want to go? Abandoned UFO? Bombed out supermarket? Desert?"

"Just please don't let me die first again."

* * *

_A/N: Cackling. So it said to include plot twists, and I'm hoping that after all of the twists within the action part of the story, you also liked the bigger twist! The gun line that we had to include meant the story always had to be action, with these sorts of vibes, although I did really ramp it up, but I'm not really an action kind of a girl. I adore watching it. Hopeless at writing it. So this was my way of addressing that! Though I might not write anything like this again, I've had a great time writing this piece, and I'm so pleased I could get it out in time! Thanks again to _TooBusyBeingAnAwkoTaco_ for organising this, and thank you to everyone who reviewed (including _Dancing Through Daisies_! Your PM is disabled, but I just wanted to say your review made my heart explode. Big smile big smile!) and for reading this little adventure, which I really hope you... well, enjoyed might not be the right word... _;)


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